


Duelling

by torestoreamends



Category: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Duelling, Fluff, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Spoilers, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-28
Updated: 2016-09-28
Packaged: 2018-08-18 09:17:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8157071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/torestoreamends/pseuds/torestoreamends
Summary: The seventh year DADA class has to practice duelling each other, and Albus and Scorpius are paired up. Albus is desperate to win, but is Scorpius actually beatable?





	

**Author's Note:**

> Basically I just wanted to write the boys fighting each other, and this was the only way I could think of to make it happen. (Also this is the first time I’ve written them as well established boyfriends and I was very excited!)
> 
> Beta'd by brief_and_dreamy

They've been looking forward to this for weeks. On the first day of seventh year they'd been told they would have mock duels at the end of October, right at the end of their module on advanced duelling techniques, and the anticipation has been growing ever since. To make it even worse, two weeks before the allotted date they are matched up into pairs, to give them time to study their opponent's technique, and that is one of the most exciting and terrifying classes ever.

Albus is trying desperately not to care, not to come up with preferred matches. He's been eyeing up his classmates for ages, and he's pretty sure of the ones he can beat and the ones he can't. The only potential opponent he hasn't really thought about is Scorpius. The idea of fighting Scorpius is just too weird, and the entire school knows they're together, even the teachers. Their professor would never pair them up. It just seems stupid to waste time thinking about. Right up until the moment when the names are being read out. 

There're all sorts of antics going on as the matches are announced. People whooping and stamping for particularly close match ups, best friends making threatening gestures across the classroom as they grin at each other, deadly enemies glaring evilly. And then it happens.

"Albus Severus... Will be duelling..." Their professor studies the list and a small smile crosses her lips. "Of course. Mr Malfoy."

The class goes silent and everyone turns to look at the pair of them. They're sitting side by side. They always share a desk. 

Albus freezes. He has to duel Scorpius? But that is... A thousand words for what it is whirl around in his brain, but none of them will help him now. 

He looks sideways to see Scorpius giving him a shy little smile. To Albus's satisfaction, Scorpius is messing anxiously with the sleeve of his robe. At least they're both terrified. 

"Let's see what you make of that," their professor says with satisfaction. "I'm sure it won't disappoint. Next..." Everyone's attention is deflected from them by another pairing being announced. 

"Scared?" Albus murmurs to Scorpius once the rest of the class is distracted. 

Scorpius shakes his head and grins. "You wish. Malfoy the Unanxious isn't afraid of anyone." 

"Well maybe you should be," Albus says, tickling his ribs under the desk, doing his utmost to pretend he's completely calm about all this.

Scorpius bats him away. "This is going to be fun. I'm excited." 

Albus nods, but inside his stomach is churning. How do you fight your boyfriend? The person you love most in all the world? 

As the class wears on he begins to feel even more apprehensive. Across the classroom he can see Scorpius holding a shield charm as someone shoots hexes at him. The silvery barrier doesn't waver even a tiny bit under the barrage of spells. 

Now Albus is thinking about it, does Scorpius really have a weakness? He's powerful, brave, skilful, his non-verbals are terrifying. He might be the last person on earth Albus would want to fight, not just because Albus loves him. Scorpius Malfoy is a force to be reckoned with.

For the next week Albus spends every class and most of his evenings watching Scorpius do magic. It's far from the least pleasurable task Albus has ever had. The thing is, Scorpius looks rather beautiful when he's casting spells. There's a steely intensity in his eyes, and whenever he succeeds in doing something he's pleased with, which is often, he breaks into a broad, glowing smile. He just looks so relaxed, even when he's casting the most impossibly complicated of spells, like he's enjoying himself. Enjoying the challenge.

Only a couple of times in those two weeks does Scorpius seem to struggle. Once during a Transfiguration lesson, and Albus knows for a fact he'd slept terribly the night before that. The other time was when Flitwick had taught them a devastatingly difficult spell that made everyone incredibly frustrated and anxious, because apparently it regularly features in the N.E.W.T. exam. They'd all finished that class as nervous wrecks, and the rest of the evening had been spent in the common room, feverishly repeating the spell over and over and over again, trying to get it to work. Aside from that, though, are very few chinks in Scorpius's armour.

Scorpius could win this duel easily, Albus knows that, but he's never been one to shy away from a challenge, and the more he thinks about how brilliant Scorpius is, the more determined he is to win. 

If there's one subject Albus is good at, it's Defence Against the Dark Arts. He's excellent at duelling, he knows that, and he enjoys it. He enjoys the rush of adrenaline that accompanies it. He even enjoys practicing stupid, difficult tricks and spells that he knows you're only meant to learn during Auror training. Half of them are impossible, but there's something fun about trying to achieve the unachievable. 

In the week leading up to the duel he takes to slipping away from Scorpius at lunchtime and finding empty classrooms to practice in. One time he almost gets detention for setting fire to a desk, but he manages to extinguish it and restore the damage before the Prefect who's yelling at him can escape to get a teacher. 

The main problem is that, although he knows Scorpius better than possibly anyone else in the world, he has no idea what he's going to do in the fight. Albus can't really imagine Scorpius duelling. He's seen him angry before, but he doesn't fight people. He's far too nice for that. His magic is warm, and gentle. Healing, not harming. Of course he isn't a pushover, but what is he like in battle? Albus has no idea. He'll just have to improvise when the time comes. 

The night before the duel, Albus and Scorpius are curled up together in their dorm. They're both sitting on Albus's bed for once, and Scorpius has tucked his feet under Albus's blankets and is leaning against his side. There's a book of offensive spells open in Albus's lap and he's going through it with quiet concentration. Scorpius has put all his work aside and is peering over Albus's shoulder. 

"Which of those are you using tomorrow then?" 

Albus pulls the book away from him and holds it against his chest. "Why do you think I'm using any of those?" 

Scorpius wraps his arms round Albus's waist. "You're reading a book, sweetheart. Why would you be doing that if you weren't going to use it?" 

Albus boops Scorpius on the nose. "Because. It's always good to have new ideas." 

"Using my words against me, Potter," Scorpius says delightedly. 

Albus grins down at him. "You say them about five times a day. They were going to sink in eventually." 

Scorpius reaches out and plucks the book from his hand. Albus deliberately loses the page he was on. 

"Are you planning to throw all these at me tomorrow?" Scorpius asks, flipping through the pages. "There's some tricky stuff in here. Look at this one, I still have no idea how you do this."

Albus looks at the spell he's pointing at. "Oh, that one. It's the wrist movement. If you get it wrong it won't work at all."

Scorpius glances curiously at him. "How do you know that?" 

"My dad," Albus says. "Sometimes we practice together."

Scorpius groans and flops right down so his head is in Albus's lap. "They're making me duel Harry Potter's son. The son of the best Auror in years. How is this fair?"

Albus strokes his hair. "You're going to flatten me, Scorpius. What are you worried about?" 

"All those other things your dad has been teaching you?"

Albus laughs. "Trust me, I can't do half of those things."

"It's the half you can do that I'm worried about?" Scorpius says.

"You shouldn't be," Albus says, taking the book back from him. "We both know you're better than me at magic. I'll probably panic and half my spells won't work, so."

Scorpius frowns up at him. "Do you really think that?" 

Albus sighs. "I don't know. I think... I think I want to do well. And usually when I want to do well everything goes wrong." He looks down at Scorpius. "I want to beat you. Because I want to prove... I-I don't know. I'd just quite like to win."

"You're better at Defence than me," Scorpius says quietly, lifting his hand off his chest and examining his fingers. "You're braver than me. You know how to fight. You've got the genes for it... There's no reason you shouldn't beat me."

"Apart from the fact that you're better," Albus says.

Scorpius looks up at him, eyes glinting in the light from the lantern mounted on the dormitory ceiling above them. "Not at everything." For a moment he surveys Albus, then he sits up, swings his legs from beneath the blankets, and turns to face Albus. He crosses his legs and takes Albus's hands. "Ever since fourth year, ever since... Well. I don't really know when it started. Maybe it was in the maze, or maybe it was on top of the train, I don't remember... But ever since then you've had this- this  _look_. Like you've come alive. Like you've found yourself." 

He looks down at Albus's hands, and gently messes with his fingers, curling and uncurling them, turning them over and stroking across the lines of his palms. Albus lets him. It's always comforting, the movements of Scorpius's fingers. He always fiddles so much with everything, and being involved in that is like being an extension of Scorpius's body. Albus loves it.

"I think..." Scorpius says finally. "What I'm trying to say is that you're good at this. And you love it, I know you do. You can do anything you set your mind to." He looks up at Albus and smiles. "I've seen you jump off of viaducts, and go chasing dead people through the past to convince them they're loved. And I've seen you pass exams you thought you couldn't, and I've seen you make things up with your dad, and... My point is that you're good, Albus. You're very good. And that's something I really really hope you understand..." He looks up into Albus's eyes, and Albus can't hold his gaze. 

He ducks his head and nods quickly. Sometimes Scorpius says the most amazing things, things Albus can't entirely believe could ever be true. It's like Scorpius sees a different version of him than the one he feels in his heart. A better, braver, stronger version, one that Albus could only ever dream of being. It's strange how someone who knows him so well sees him so differently to the way he sees himself. But then, maybe Scorpius feels the same way about how Albus sees him...

"You know," Scorpius says, giving Albus's hands a gentle squeeze. "If you want to win the duel tomorrow you can do it." 

"Do you think?"

"Mmhmm." A big, broad, mischievous grin spreads across Scorpius's face. "Except... I want to win too. I'm not going to lie down and let you walk all over me, Potter." 

"Guess you'd better bring your A game then, Malfoy," Albus shoots back, meeting his eyes again. 

For a moment they give each other mock glares, then Scorpius cracks and starts giggling, and Albus breaks too. He tackles Scorpius onto the bed and starts kissing him between gales of laughter, and they end up lying there breathless and happy with their arms round each other.

\---

Albus doesn't sleep well that night. He rarely has nightmares, he hardly did at all before fourth year. Maybe one or two as a kid, but he's always been good at sleeping.

It was worst right after they got back from Godric's Hollow. Every night he would see the green flashes and hear the rush of death. Craig, James, Lily. He would hear their screams, hear the pained cries tearing from Scorpius's throat as he was tortured, hear his own desperate sobs and pleas. He would hear high, cruel laughter. Delphi's laughter. Voldemort's laughter. Sometimes in the nightmares he would reach out to hug his dad, only for him to suddenly transform into Voldemort before his eyes, face growing pale and cruel, and then a voice would cry, "Avada Kedavra," and Albus would fall down, down, down into darkness. 

Those are the dreams he has the night before the duel, and he wakes in pitch black, tangled up in his blankets, shaking and sweating. He claws his way from behind his hangings and sits on the edge of his bed, face buried in his hands and toes curled into the rug. Everyone else is still asleep, including Scorpius, and there's no point waking any of them. It's only a dream after all. 

He runs his hands through his hair then gets to his feet and walks over to the window. It must be morning because the lake isn't inky black. It's a dark murky green, and he can see a few rays of bright early morning sun piercing through the depths. As he looks out, the giant squid floats lazily past, leaving only a stream of bubbles in its wake. 

Albus sighs and rubs his eyes. There's no point going back to bed if the sun's up. He should go and eat something and get a bit more practice in before the duel later. 

In the early morning gloom he fumbles around for his uniform and pulls it on. He packs his bag, tiptoeing across to get one of his books from Scorpius's bedside table where it has somehow ended up. The floorboards creak beneath him and he hesitates for an instant before carrying on. 

It's a relief to escape the silent dormitory. Albus clatters down the stairs to the common room. It's deserted, in fact the whole castle is still sleeping. There are only a handful of other people at breakfast when he arrives. One or two teachers, a couple of seventh year Ravenclaws he vaguely recognises from Charms, and a scattering of other people. At least the House Elves are apparently awake in force. There's toast and tureens of sausages and eggs, not that Albus has the appetite to eat anything. He chews on a bit of toast and marmalade but it tastes like cardboard.

There's no reason to be nervous about today. It isn't an exam, or a test. It doesn't go towards his grades. It's something he's meant to be good at. It isn't a competition. No one will care how he does. Everyone knows Scorpius is brilliant, so if he gets beaten in a minute flat everyone will just laugh and say they were glad they didn't have to fight him. And yet, Albus is terrified. Terrified because he really, really wants to win. 

He forces himself to eat some food. He'll need the energy later. Enjoying it isn't the point, it's fuel. Fuel that will help him do well. 

Once his plate is clear and he's drunk a whole boatload of coffee he walks up to the large classroom where they're having their lesson that day and sinks down onto the floor by the door. He closes his eyes and runs through every single spell he knows. His wand is lying across his upturned palms, and he can feel the warm glow of connection with it as he thinks. It won't let him down, he trusts it implicitly, and now he has to trust himself too. Trust his memory and his judgement and his talent. Trust all the practice he's put in over the years. Trust his dad's words and advice. 

He's so lost in his own mind he doesn't hear his classmates arrive. He only realises he's no longer alone when he feels fingers brush through his hair. His eyes fly open and he looks up to see Scorpius smiling down at him. 

"You terrified me," Albus says. 

"Sorry. You were in your own little world."

"I was thinking."

"I noticed," Scorpius says. "It looks good on you." He holds a hand out. "I think we're going inside now. Are you ready?" 

Albus swallows hard and nods. "Let's do this." He takes Scorpius's hand, rises to his feet, and marches into the room.

It's one of the biggest classrooms in the school. The middle has been cleared out, but there are desks and chairs piled up on three sides of the floor, left to provide cover presumably. Albus eyes them as he takes his seat in the double row of chairs spread along the fourth side of the duelling ground. A faint, shimmering barrier separates the students from the rest of the room. Apparently their professor doesn't want anyone to be hit by a stray spell.

Three pairs go ahead of them, and Albus doesn't notice any of what happens. He vaguely hears the cheers and whoops of his classmates, remembers to applaud a couple of times, but he doesn't know who wins or how. At one point he feels his hands start to shake and he pushes the nerves away as hard as he can, in favour of running through every tip he knows about performing non-verbal spells under pressure. Anxiety isn't going to help him here. Only concentration will. He is  _not_  screwing this up for himself. 

Another burst of applause cuts through his recitation and then he hears their professor's voice. "Albus, Scorpius, you're up next." 

Albus lifts his head and gets to his feet. Beside him, Scorpius does the same. Scorpius is grinning, fidgeting with his tie. When they're in place he bends down to retie his shoelaces. Albus doesn't need to tie his. He'd double knotted them earlier and put a charm on them to stop them from coming undone. Instead he shakes his shoulders out, rolls his sleeves up, and stands ready. 

Scorpius takes his time. He adjusts his robes, brushes a speck of dust from his wand, makes sure his sleeves are just where he wants them, then finally faces Albus and indicates that he, too, is ready to go. By that point Albus's eyes are narrowed and he's completely focused. On edge. Adrenaline pumping. First spell on a trigger in his mind, the movement of it like a coiled spring in his hand. 

"Whenever you're ready, then," their professor says. 

For the briefest moment the pair of them eye each other up. Scorpius fixes Albus with a look like sharpened steel. Albus meets his gaze as calmly as he can, and gives a very small nod. A tiny smile curls across Scorpius's lips. Then they move as one.

Albus's wand slashes through the air as he releases the Expelliarmus he'd been holding in his head. The scarlet light flashes across the room and strikes Scorpius's Shield Charm. Albus throws himself sideways, behind one of the nearby desks, and not a moment too soon. A powerful stunning spell hits the wall where his head had been an instant before. 

He ducks right down behind the desk, waits a beat, then runs again. As he goes he sends two stunning spells pelting towards Scorpius's shield. 

Scorpius hasn't moved an inch yet. He's rooted to the ground, surrounded by his shield. The only thing moving is his wand. Right now he's waving it in a complicated pattern, like he's weaving threads of magic together, and as Albus dashes across the room he can feel something snapping at his heels, slowing him down and trying to trip him, stop him. He dives into a forward roll, kicking the magic away, and skids across the stone floor under another desk. 

With a flick of his wand, Scorpius sets the desk on fire. Albus hears the crackle of flames and he scrambles away, casting a silent Aguamenti in a sweeping, powerful jet that extinguishes all the flames and drenches several other desks. He doesn't stop crawling though. He keeps scrambling along, trying not to let Scorpius get a good look at him. 

Scorpius doesn't seem to mind. He's just patiently waiting and watching in the middle of the room, wand levelled, shield shimmering around him. It's the moment when he reaches up to tuck a strand of hair behind his ear that Albus dives out of cover again, and that moment of distraction is enough for Albus to barrage the shield with three Stinging Hexes, a Disarming Charm and a Stunner. The shield doesn't even waver. There's barely a flicker when Scorpius retaliates with three spells of his own, the last of which lashes painfully across Albus's cheek, sending him sprawling sideways across the floor. 

The nearest desk is far too far away. 

 _Protego,_  he thinks desperately, and his own shield forms around him. It won't hold nearly as long as Scorpius's will, but it gives him long enough to murmur a healing spell  that makes the swelling in his cheek subside. While he's sitting there Scorpius hits him with several powerful, complicated-feeling spells. The last one sweeps Albus's shield aside like it's nothing more than air. Albus leaps to his feet, hurdles a nearby chair, then picks it up and uses it as a shield against Scorpius's next two spells, before hurling it with all his might in Scorpius's direction.

He throws himself behind the big, solid teacher's desk and a second later he hears the chair smash. Scorpius must have banished it against a wall. 

Albus is beginning to feel slightly breathless. He's fit, he can keep running for a while longer, but Scorpius has barely wavered so far. Chances are Scorpius can keep his strategy up an awful lot longer than Albus can. 

He pushes himself off the floor and glances over at Scorpius. He's dropped the shield and is casting another spell, lips in a tight, concentrated line. Quickly Albus shoots a stunning spell at him but it misses by inches, grazing his ear, and the next second the shield is back. Albus takes cover again and tries not to rue the missed opportunity. 

If he's going to win this, and he  _is_  going to win this, he needs to do something unexpected. He needs to throw Scorpius off. But Scorpius knows him so well that is almost impossible. 

What does Scorpius expect from him? Probably simple spells. To keep running away. Nothing too complicated, just running and shooting and trying to wear him down. 

A complicated spell then. There's only one Albus can do well, and it won't be spectacularly useful but it might be distracting. 

Albus rolls onto his hands and knees, and he feels Scorpius's magic begin to snatch at him again, ghostly ropes are beginning to coalesce around his knees and arms. With a wave of his wand, Albus tries to dispel them. It doesn't really work. It's as though his magic is being constricted too. That spell was in the book Albus was reading yesterday. The counter-charm is complicated, but Albus manages to mutter it with barely a second to spare, and he waves the bonds away. 

As soon as he's free he takes a breath and springs up, vaulting straight over the desk. 

He thinks of the joy of sitting with his dad in the orchard on warm summer afternoons, lets it wash over him, and points his wand in Scorpius's direction.

_Expecto Patronum._

The doe bursts forward and charges directly at Scorpius. Albus doesn't hesitate to see if she has any effect. He rolls away under a desk, and he knows what he has to do. One final all or nothing play that hopefully Scorpius won't see coming. If this doesn't work Albus is destined to lose anyway. It will be worth it.

He focuses carefully on the spell, but he doesn't have much time. The ground beneath him feels like it's heating up, like it's on fire. Scorpius is doing something to chase him out. But that's okay. Albus doesn't need cover anymore. 

He runs. He bursts from under the desk and sprints straight at Scorpius, wand levelled. He's moving so fast he can hardly see anything Scorpius is doing, but he thinks he sees a flicker of surprise in Scorpius's expression as he looks up from vanishing the last silvery wisps of the doe to see Albus charging him down.

As Albus runs he thinks with all his might,  _Stupefy._  At the exact same moment he slashes his wand through the air and yells, "Expelliarmus." 

The effect is instantaneous and devastating. 

Two bolts of scarlet light, all wrapped up in one, blast across the room. One hits slightly before the other and amazingly the shield shatters under the force of it. Then the second hits and Scorpius, a look of shock on his face, is blasted off his feet. His wand flies from his hand and Albus catches at it. He skids to a halt, staring at the strange wand he's holding, and then he realises the rest of the class is applauding.

He flinches and glances round. He'd been concentrating so hard he'd forgotten they were there. He never heard them react to anything before that moment. All he'd heard were his own running footsteps, his breathing, the thoughts in his head. But they've been watching the whole time and a couple of them are on their feet, whooping.

For a moment he stares at them in disbelief, then he remembers that Scorpius is still lying on the floor. Without another second of hesitation he rushes forward, determined to check his boyfriend is okay. He doesn't get very far before their professor steps in front of him. 

"Very good," she says. She sounds delighted. "Very well matched, and you've clearly studied each other. Albus, that double spell at the end... Where did you learn that?" 

"My dad," Albus says, trying to skirt around her, painfully aware that Scorpius might be hurt. "I-it's never worked before..." 

"There's a first time for everything," she says, grinning.

Albus nods, just a tiny bit stunned by how impressed she looks. He's glad when she pats him on the arm and walks away to check the register for the next pair, although why she isn't worried about Scorpius he doesn't understand. 

He rushes over to where Scorpius is beginning to pick himself up off the floor, and stretches out a hand to help him. "Are you okay?" he asks quietly. "I-I didn't mean to-"

Scorpius gets up and bends over, catching his breath. "No... You were great... And I'm fine... Just a bit... Winded." 

"Did I hurt-"

Scorpius looks up at him. "No you didn't. I just wasn't expecting...  _That_." 

"Neither was I," Albus admits. "Are you sure you-"

"Completely sure, Albus. Honestly."

Albus looks at him worriedly for a moment longer, then he holds Scorpius's wand out. "Here." 

"Thanks," Scorpius says. He takes it and finally straightens up, grinning at Albus. "You beat me!" He pauses as he gets a good look at Albus. "You're bleeding..." 

Albus touches a hand to his stinging cheek. "Oh." 

Scorpius waves his wand and Albus feels the wound knit itself closed. "There. I'm sorry I-"

Albus waves him away. "We were duelling. It was going to happen." 

"I know but-"

"I should have been quicker," Albus says. "Come on, we're in the way." He takes Scorpius's hand and they walk back to their seats. 

"I really wasn't expecting you to run at me like that," Scorpius says as he settles down. "And then two spells at once... I didn't think you could- I mean. That's very advanced magic." 

Albus glances sideways at him. "You thought I couldn't do something like that." 

Scorpius meets his eyes, then glances way again. "I'm sorry." He looks so genuinely apologetic that Albus puts an arm round him. They sit silently like that while the rest of the class finishes their duels. 

\---

They don't get chance to talk for the rest of the day. Their other classes are all stuffed with complicated new spells, and in Herbology they're working on pruning a rather delicate and valuable plant that requires all their concentration so they don't accidentally kill it. And then in the evening Scorpius has Quidditch practice, followed immediately by Prefect duty. 

When he finally gets in late that evening, Albus is curled up in bed writing a letter to his parents. He glances up as Scorpius comes crashing through the dormitory door, out of breath, robes flying. 

"Hello," Albus says, glancing up at him. "Why are you in such a hurry?" 

Scorpius strides over to him. "Because. The others will be back soon, and I have spent all day-" he breaks off as he takes Albus's face gently in both hands and kisses him. "All day thinking about that duel." He sits down on the edge of Albus's bed. "You were- you looked- I don't even know where to start. You beat me." 

Albus smiles and reaches out to take his hand. "I'm as surprised by that as you are..."

"You shouldn't be." Scorpius squeezes Albus's fingers. "I just wasn't expecting you to do it in such style. I wasn't expecting any of that. I think..." He looks right at Albus. "I think I thought I knew you. I thought I knew exactly what you were going to do, the sorts of spells you'd use, everything. And then you did  _that_. And it turns out I don't really know you at all." 

Albus crawls up beside him and leans against his side. "I was trying to be unpredictable. I-I knew what you thought I was going to do. I'm good at improvising, and thinking fast, so I did. That was why I used the Patronus. You weren't expecting anything tricky like that, were you?"

Scorpius smiles and shakes his head. "But I should have known. I should have guessed that was exactly what you'd do. I shouldn't have been so complacent. Doesn't your dad have that saying?" 

"Constant Vigilance?" Albus asks.

Scorpius nods. "I don't think I did a very good job of that today. So you deserved to win." 

"If those spells hadn't worked you would have destroyed me," Albus says, wrapping an arm round Scorpius's waist. 

"But I didn't." Scorpius kisses him on the cheek. "You disarmed me fair and square. When that second spell hit..." He shakes his head. "That was the most impressive thing I've ever seen. I really did underestimate you."

"Your shield was impenetrable," Albus says quietly, looking up at him. 

"Your Stunner destroyed it quite nicely," Scorpius replies, smiling. "If you'd hit me with that I'd have been out cold for a week." 

Albus grins. "I think I was trying particularly hard because I knew I was powering two spells." 

"Imagine if there had been no shield at all..."

Albus squeezes him tightly around the waist. "I wasn't trying to hurt you."  

"I know. My point is... Those dark wizards won't stand a chance." He's shining with pride, Albus realises suddenly. The bright silver eyes, the little smile. It's the same way he's seen Draco look when he talks about Scorpius. Proud, and extremely fond, and full of love. 

Albus feels his cheeks heat, and he nudges Scorpius gently. He doesn't have anything to say to that.

Scorpius squeezes his shoulders tightly. "You want to know a secret, Albus?" he asks after a moment.

"What's that?" 

Scorpius looks right at him. "You standing over me all triumphant like that might have been the hottest thing I've ever seen in my life." 

Albus grins broadly. "Was it really?" 

Scorpius nods. "You were all breathless, and you had that cut, and you'd just finished kicking my ass..." Scorpius gently reaches up and brushes a finger over the spot where his Stinging Hex had lashed across Albus's cheek earlier. 

Albus boldly meets his gaze. "Is that what you like then? Boys who can show you who's boss?" Albus reaches up and starts gently unpicking the knot on Scorpius's tie. 

Scorpius swallows and gazes down at him. "I may be moderately partial to that, yes... There's this one boy in particular who's really good at it." 

Albus smirks and starts unbuttoning Scorpius's shirt, watching his fingers work. "Who's that, then?" 

Scorpius's hands brush through his hair and cup the back of his neck, until Albus can't not look up at him. 

"Albus Severus Potter," Scorpius breathes, like a prayer, eyes all molten silver. Then he kisses Albus with such softness it takes his breath away. 

For several long moments they kiss, soft and slow and warm. Albus grips Scorpius's shoulders as if he never plans to let go, which he doesn't really. This is so much easier than fighting, so much more right. Here they can read each other's every move like they're reading each other's minds. No surprises. 

"You do though," Albus murmurs finally, "know me." He pulls away but keeps his forehead pressed to Scorpius's. "You know me better than anyone." 

Scorpius looks at him. "Do I?" He asks. 

Albus nods. "Yes, you do. You're the only person- I  _want_  you to know me. I trust you." 

Scorpius gives a very small smile. "I'll do a better job in future then." He slides his hands down Albus's back. "You know, I think your Stupefy might have hit me after all..." 

Albus frowns and sits back. "What? Why? Are you-" 

A slow grin spreads across Scorpius's face. "You've stunned me, Albus. You're stunning. You-" 

Realisation dawns. Albus groans and grabs a pillow, launching it at Scorpius's face. With a laugh Scorpius snatches it out of the air and throws it back. Five minutes later when their roommates come up to bed they're both out of breath and giggling. Together they're trying to clean up the mess from where the pillow had exploded as Scorpius clouted Albus round the head with it.

There are feathers in Albus's hair, and he still hasn't forgiven Scorpius for the horrible pun, but he feels incredibly content. He beat Scorpius in the duel, he got some difficult magic to work, and while his boyfriend may now be a formidable wizard he's still the same ridiculous nerd that Albus had met on the train all those years ago. It's pretty great. 


End file.
